The Catalans club’s form is sensational too, with one defeat in 18, with 17 wins in that run, while Real Madrid have faltered slightly, with rumours of a ‘rift’ between Ronaldo and Gareth Bale and other issues behind the scenes. Whether that is true or not they are in a run of three defeats in their last eight games with one draw in the mix and they flirted with a shock exit from the Champions League losing 3-4 to Schalke at home (a team they hammered in last season’s competition).

There are a million bets you can have in El Clasico, but I have to pick one. I’m going to detail four potential Soccer picks that land often enough to be called bankers.

Both teams to score
The ever popular both teams to score bet is a cash cow in this fixture. It has landed in the last 17 meetings and with the attacking talent on show there is no reason to think that will end. It’s a short price, but if you can stomach 1.46 (6/13) it always lands.

Over/Under goals
On the same theme, over 2.5 goals has landed in 15 of those 17 games and is priced at 1.44, while over 3.5 goals has featured in nine of those 17 matches and you can get 2.05. Of the overs bets, I’d rather take the risk and play the over 3.5 in a match which will be very competitive, especially from Real’s point of view.

Messi and Ronaldo
It would be remiss of me not to mention the possibility of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both scoring in this match. In actual fact, the frequency of them both netting has dropped since 2012 when it seemed they both bagged in every El Clasico.

You can get 4.5 for them both to get on the sheet on Sunday. The stats are impressive of course. Messi is the all-time leading El Clasico scorer with 21 goals, while Ronaldo is third in the list with 14 (behind Raul on 15). The Argentine forward has scored eight of Barcelona’s last 16 against Real Madrid in all competitions.

His Portuguese rival has got a goal in six of his last seven visits to the Camp Nou (eight goals, all competitions), failing only to net on his most recent trip. Finally Messi has scored 17 La Liga goals in 2015; more than Real Madrid’s attacking trio of Bale, Benzema and Ronaldo combined (five each).

Bookings
My other option is over 50 booking points, but at the time of writing there are no prices available on the Soccer odds board. So Sergio Ramos to be booked in the match is my second selection at 1.75. He has the most bookings of any Madrid player this season and has picked up 10 yellows in his last 14 matches, as well as three in his last six El Clasicos, including a red card.

Soccer pick
I like all of those bets, but one stands out to me and that is the simplest market: the outright betting. The saying ‘form is temporary, class is permanent’ should apply to Real Madrid here at a huge La Liga odds price of 5.0 (4/1). They are capable of beating any team on their night, so I have to back them despite the difference in recent form – I’m hoping it goes out of the window!